Thread Subject: Re: Independent - top level - Caption Control

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From: Karen Peltz Strauss
Date: Fri, Sep 21 2007 6:40 AM

Yes, Allen, I think the deaf community would be very much in favor of having
this both on the remote and on the first or top level of onscreen menus -
you are right, people lose the remote all the time. But I don't think the
menu option should replace the remote.



----- Original Message -----
From: "Hoffman, Allen" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
To: "TEITAC Audio/Video Subcommittee" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2007 8:06 AM
Subject: Re: [teitac-video] Independent - top level - Caption Control


> Karen:
>
> I think requiring captioning on the top-level of onscreen menus might be
> worth consideration. I'd actually require both--top level and on
> remote, if you can't find the remote, (you ask your kids to find it
> right?), the top level menu would be pretty helpful. I think this is
> usability, but if a vast majority of people who are deaf find this
> problematic, its more than that.
>
>
>
>
>
> Allen Hoffman -- = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ; v: 202-447-0303
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Karen Peltz
> Strauss
> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 6:14 PM
> To: TEITAC Audio/Video Subcommittee
> Cc: Toby R. Silver; = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ; Rosaline Crawford;
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ; = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> Subject: Re: [teitac-video] Independent - top level - Caption Control
>
> Paul
>
> In response to your statements about simply providing easy access to CC
> functions through the menu set up instead of a captioning button on the
> remote, one problem is that defining what is "easy access" is next to
> impossible. What one person may find easy (i.e., a teenager familiar
> with
> lots of electronics), another person may find impossible (an 80-year old
> in a government-run hospital). For deaf and hard of hearing people,
> having access to captions is the same as having access to volume control
> is for hearing people. No manufacturer would ever consider not having
> volume
> control on the remote. In fact, there was a "60 Minutes" story on CBS
> 2
> weeks ago where this very question was asked of an interviewee: what
> are the 2 features that are most important on the remote control? The
> answer was volume control and the ability to change the channel.
>
> Access to captions is critical to understanding a television show for
> someone who cannot hear: without the captions, there is no show - you
> can't get any more basic in function than this. While navigating menus
> may be easy for some, more often it is a hassle, especially in locations
> where the
> television is not your own, such as in governmental situations.
> Moreover,
> when we are talking about the general audience, we are looking at a
> disproportionate number of viewers who are aging (and have lost their
> hearing in later years) and are not familiar with menu navigation (many
> still do not have computers). This does not include as well the
> millions of Americans with cognitive limitations who may use the cues
> provided by captions to help them understand a program's content. For
> them, too, "having to find " the captions first might pose an
> insurmountable burden.
>
> I myself have had a terrible time trying to locate captions in hotel
> rooms - usually I give up if it is not on the remote. When my children
> were younger, this typically meant not watching television at all after
> they fell asleep - even for me, no captions meant no TV. With digital
> TV, the situation has gotten even worse, as the menu selections have
> proliferated.
>
> Closed captions are required on 100% of all new, non-exempt programs.
> The time has come for a caption button to be on all television remotes.
>
> Karen
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Schomburg, Paul" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> To: "TEITAC Audio/Video Subcommittee" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 2:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [teitac-video] Independent - top level - Caption Control
>
>
>> Greg: Some TV manufacturers already include a "SAP" button on remote
>> controls for this very reason -- that blind users can't navigate
> visual
>> menus. I think this is much more important than having a separate
> "CC"
>> button on the remote, which is needed primarily to make it easier for
>> the hearing impaired end user to turn closed captioning on/off. I can
>> understand why this would be desirable, but I don't think there is a
>> justification to make it mandatory if the setup menu provides easy
>> access to CC functions. Adding more mandatory buttons on the remote
>> means all the other buttons have to be made smaller and thus less
>> tactically discernable and visually accessible to folks with vision
>> disabilities. We should consider these tradeoffs in our
>> recommendations.
>>
>> Best regards, Paul
>>
>>
>

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